Shelley Munro Blog

We had a really early start this morning and were seranaded by wolves. I really wanted to see wolves but hearing them was as close as I came. Mr. Munro wanted to see a bull moose. We were actually disappointed by the number of animals we saw in Yellowstone National Park, although the park is very large and any sensible animal would stay well away from the roads and all tourists. The scenery is beautiful. I really like the mountain meadows with the meandering streams and beautiful wild flowers.

The Grand Tetons are very pretty. Once again, we didn’t see many animals but by this stage it was midday. Here’s a shot of the Grand Tetons.

We were very excited to come across heaps of cars and people since we knew it meant an animal sighting. I thought it would be a bison again. Mr. Munro said he wanted to see a @#%&* moose and we were going to see what they were looking at! Mr. Munro turned out to be right and we were able to get really close to a bull moose. He stood in the middle of a stream grazing, ignoring all the people. And I have to add here that some people really need to act a little more sensibly. These are wild animals. Here’s the photo of the @#%& moose.

No photos today since I’m tired and can’t summon the energy to download my camera to my laptop. Last night we stayed at Grand Lake - actually outside Grand Lake - at a campground called Elk Creek in some darling little cabins. Mr. Munro has been very clever with our accommodation and we’ve stayed in a real mix. I was sitting our our terrace having a beer and watched a mouse run across the steps. Mice don’t scare me (unless they choose to run over my feet) so I continued sipping my beer and casually mentioned it to hubby. When he investigated, he found more mice. A family of the wee things. Later that night I kept hearing noises and at one stage shot upright in bed and woke Mr. Munro. It was raining and the patter on the roof had woken me. The mice hadn’t decided to come inisde out of the cold, so I went back to sleep.

Today we drove through the Rocky Mountain National Park. I purchased a book on mountain lions and questioned the ranger for some time. Ranger Michelle was lovely and my story idea is fermenting nicely after all the info she gave me. We saw some moose and stopped to take photos. We also stopped to take photos of some elk. Their antlers were HUGE. I don’t know how they manage to hold their heads up. When we traveled farther into the park, it started sleeting - freezing when you’re wearing shorts! I yanked more clothes out of the suitcase and layered. It worked all right and a hot cider at the information center at the top of the mountain completed the thaw. We enjoyed all our wildlife sightings. Next on the list is bison and beers. We have a list and we’re ticking it off.

Tomorrow we’re driving into South Dekota. Deadwood - here I come!

Oh, I forgot to say that we had a fun time in Cripple Creek and for the first time in history Mr. Munro and I won some money at one of the casinos. Me - the last of the big spenders who puts $1 at a time in the machines, played poker and won. I’m still in shock.